Consultants Aaron Knights Enterprises appeal's dismissal of $84,000 lawsuit

A local consultancy firm has appealed a High Court ruling dismissing its lawsuit for outstanding fees, rent and compensation stemming from an alleged tenancy and service agreement with an attorney, his practice and a related property management firm.

Aaron Knights Enterprises Ltd (AKEL), owned by managing director Aaron Knights, maintains it was unlawfully evicted from its office space and denied payment for consultancy services rendered over several years.

In a ruling on May 13, Justice Joan Charles dismissed AKEL’s lawsuit, which claimed over $84,000 in outstanding consultancy fees, rent compensation, and damages stemming from a tenancy and service agreement dispute with Hove’s Court Ltd, Hove and Associates and its principals, attorneys Farai Hove Masaisai and Trishauna Scarlett Hove-Masaisai.

In its appeal, filed on June 24, AKEL contends the judge made several errors, including misapplication of the doctrine of legitimate expectation, failing to follow eviction law and failing to award damages for mental distress and business disruption.

The notice of appeal contends that the respondents failed to produce any evidence, such as cheque stubs or bank records, proving they paid outstanding consultancy fees for 2018 and 2021, and that the trial judge erred by not taking this lack of evidence into account.

The appeal also challenges the trial judge’s findings on the credibility of the respondents.

The firm is now seeking to have Charles’s decision overturned, or for the matter to be retried.

The firm claims that in 2016, it entered into both tenancy and consultancy agreements with the respondents after Knights ceased being an employee and began providing clerical consultancy services through his company.

According to court documents, the company operated out of Hove’s Court, Port of Spain, under annual tenancy agreements and was paid a monthly retainer of $6,000 under the consultancy arrangement. The company claims that written contracts existed until November 2020, but it continued to provide services and occupy the premises until October 2021 without interruption.

The dispute arose after AKEL was allegedly evicted in November 2021 without proper legal notice, and a mere "notice to quit" was issued, despite no outstanding rent. The appeal also contends that the action breached established landlord-tenant legal procedures. The company claims that no clear notice was ever given that the consultancy agreement had ended and that there was a legitimate expectation of continued business into 2022.

The company is representing itself in the appeal.